Posts from — June 2012

Israeli arms sales to Rwandan Genocidaires should be no Surprise
by Jimmy Johnson – 24 June, 2012

A 24 June 2012 article in Maariv brought to light some new information about arms shipments from Israel to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. Most of the basics about these transactions have been publicly available since 1999 when Brian Wood and Johan Peleman published The Arms Fixers. They reported, “Seven large cargoes of small arms worth $6.5 million were flown from Tirana [Albania] and Tel Aviv between mid-April and mid-July 1994 to the [Interahamwe] forces as they carried out the genocide, even during the time when the mass killings were being reported daily by the international news media.” The flights from Tirana were supervised by Israeli personnel. Sarah Leibowitz’s article in Maariv adds a few names as well as information about Israelis training Rwandan military and paramilitary forces and earlier arms sales in 1992 and 1993.

What is most surprising about the whole affair is that anyone would be surprised at all. Israeli arms―whether government sanctioned or black market, from multinational arms corporations or individual dealers and mercenaries―can be found in nearly every locale where human rights are violated. Anyone paying attention to Israeli arms production and exports over the last few decades would not be surprised by the latest revelations about Rwanda.

A History of Arming Authoritarians

Israel began training the Iranian Shah’s notorious internal security force, the SAVAK, in 1954 and selling Uzis to the Imperial National Guard in 1959. In 1963, Israel helped advise Iran’s counterinsurgency operation against dissident tribes in the south, and in 1964 sold the Iranian army Uzis. Israel famously sold the Islamic Republic hundreds of millions worth of ammunition, artillery and other arms through the 1980s. Private dealers like Nahum Manbar, Eli Cohen and Avichai Weinstein sold the Khameini regime tanks, chemical weapons, armored vehicle parts and missile wires during the 1990s and 2000s.

Elsewhere in the Persian Gulf, Israel assisted Sultan Qaboos ibn Said’s totalitarian regime in Oman in its counterinsurgency efforts in Dhofar province during the 1970s, and joined with Saudi Arabia and Iran in supporting the royalists against the republicans during the 1962-70 Yemeni civil war. Israel more recently sold weapons to the Saleh regime, against which the Yemeni people have been rebelling since 2011.

In Latin America, Israel sold small arms in 1957 to Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, and began arming Nicaragua’s Somoza regime the same year. Israel would continue to arm successive Somoza dictatorships with small arms, aircraft, tanks and counterinsurgency training until the Sandinistas overthrow the younger Somoza in 1979. From there Israel shipped arms and advisors to the anti-Sandinista Contras as they attempted to overthrow Nicaraguan democracy during the 1980s. Israeli mercenaries provided small arms and military training to Colombian paramilitaries and narcotraffickers in the 1980s, and from the 1980s to present, counterinsurgency training, aircraft, missiles and small arms to the Colombian government – widely regarded as the worst human rights abuser in the Western Hemisphere.

Israeli arms and training were key in the Guatemalan, El Salvadoran and Honduran repressions of indigenous, labor and progressive organizations and rebels from the 1960s through the 1980s. Between the three countries, hundreds of thousands were killed. Israel also was a major supplier of arms and training to a series of Argentine military juntas and Chile’s Pinochet regime in the 1970s and 1980s.

Israel first sold Uzis to apartheid South Africa in 1955. A decade later the country became a strategic ally. Israeli firms were building apartheid South Africa’s border fences almost thirty years before the West Bank separation barrier. Israel supported South Africa with arms, training, advisors, technology and even tritium to boost the yield of South Africa’s nuclear arsenal until the apartheid regime fell. …more

Media: “Web Can Forment Openness As Corrupt Regimes Fall” – WSJ
Ben Rooney – Wall Street Journal – 28 June, 2012

Throughout the short history of the Web plenty of commentators have spouted some pretty good nonsense about it. Nicholas Negroponte, the then head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Laboratory, predicted that the Net would bring world peace by breaking down national borders.

Speaking at a conference in Brussels in 1997 he told the credulous audience, in 20 years time children “are not going to know what nationalism is.”

To be fair to the utopian Mr. Negroponte he was following in a long, and inglorious, tradition of over-imbuing technology with near mystical properties. A century earlier the transoceanic cable was seen as an equal harbinger of fraternal love. “It unites distant nations, making them feel that they are members of one great family… By such strong ties does it tend to bind the human race in unity, peace, and concord,” wrote one commentator in 1880.

But was Mr. Negroponte as wrong as all that? For while the Internet may not have brought world peace, what it can do is help countries emerging from conflict build the sort of institutions that build new democracies.

One of the things that the Internet is good at is bringing a measure of transparency and sunlight to historically dark places.

Dark places like prerevolution Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. How were billions of dollars of net worth able to be accumulated by Moammar Gadhafi, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and Hosni Mubarak? It is because of the lack of transparency within financial systems, within government tenders, within significant sectors of the Libyan, Tunisian and Egyptian governments.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, a country that has very successfully made the transition from Soviet vassal to Western democracy partly through huge investment in technology, said he believes e-government can help root out corruption.

“The big problem is not toppling the dictator and going home from the city square,” he said. “It is what do you do after that. Do you have effective institutions? You get rid of one dictator and if you don’t build the institutions you pretty soon have another.

“One of the ways of building institutions is through e-governance, where you can implement transparency, reduce all the rent-seeking behavior of people who come into power, because however noble they may be, suddenly they realize ‘I can handle this tender…’.”

Mr. Ilves wants to use the experiences of his country to help others, particularly those in North Africa attempting to make the transition. He is working on plans to establish a center in Estonia to help emerging democracies embrace open government and technology. …more

Bahrain: Ongoing detention and ill-treatment of Freelance journalist after commenting to media channels
29 June, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) express concerns over the ongoing detention as well as the cruel arrest of yet another journalist and pro-democracy activist in Bahrain for merely exercising his right to freedom of expression. Journalist Ahmed Radhi (35) was arrested without a warrant, he was tortured and insulted and held incommunicado for 10 days. He was also denied access to a lawyer.

Ahmed Radhi was arrested on May 16 2012 after a raid on his house in Sanabis at 4:30 in the morning. No warrant was presented at the time of the arrest. His family believes that his arrest is a result of comments he made on international media channels including BBC and London-based Bahrain Lulu TV criticising the proposed union between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He has also blogged about Bahrain and used social media channels to make his comments public.

After his arrest, his family were not notified of his whereabouts nor allowed to see him for 10 days. At the current time they are allowed regular visits, but Ahmed’s lawyer was not allowed to meet him until the first week of June, nor was she told what Ahmed was accused of.

Torture

BCHR has received a letter wrote by Ahmed Radhi in which he stated that he was beaten on his head and chest by security forces and that he was verbally insulted. He was thrown on cold and hard floor handcuffed with his hands behind his back and blindfolded for 48 hours while held at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) custody in Adliya. He said he was physically and psychologically tortured by “Isa Al-Majali” and his team to force him to confess. Ahmed was not even allowed to pray. He was interrogated several times and was beaten, humiliated and insulted each time. Later he was taken to the public prosecution where he has recorded a complaint. He was also interrogated at the public prosecution in the absence of a lawyer.

His family has said that Ahmed was forced to record a confession on camera. He is currently held at the dry dock detention centre. …more

Iran “to equip Gulf ships with missiles”
29 June, 2012 -Al Akhbar

Iran expects to equip its ships in the Strait of Hormuz soon with shorter-range missiles, a Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted as saying, in the latest apparent warning to the West not to attack it over its disputed nuclear program.

The Islamic Republic has threatened to shut the Strait, the conduit out of the Gulf for 40 percent of the world’s seaborne oil trade, if Western sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear works block its own crude exports.

The European Union plans to impose a total embargo on Iranian oil from Sunday and has told Tehran that more punitive steps could follow if it keeps defying UN demands for limits nuclear activity that could be of use in developing bombs.

“We have already equipped our vessels with missiles with a range of 220 km and we hope to introduce missiles with a range of over 300 km soon,” Ali Fadavi said, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Friday.

“We could target from our shores all areas in the Persian Gulf region, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman.”

Iran is about 225 km at its nearest point from Bahrain, where the U. Fifth Fleet is based, and about 1,000 km from its arch-enemy Israel. Tehran’s longest-range missile, the Sajjil-2, can fly up to 2,400 km.

Iran’s military and security establishment often asserts its strength in the region, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit channel carrying supplies from Gulf producers to the West.

But it has increasingly flexed its military muscle in the face of US and Israeli warnings that last-resort military action against Iran cannot be ruled out if diplomacy and sanctions fail to resolve the nuclear dispute.

In January, the Islamic Republic said it had successfully test-fired what it called two long-range missiles.

Iran denies Western suspicions that it is trying to develop technology and material required to produce nuclear weapons, saying it is generating electricity. …source

Shia Pilgrims Bus attacked by a Rocket near Quetta , 13 Martyred over 30 injured
29 June, 2012 – Jafria News

JNN 29 June 2012 QUETTA: A blast in the Hazarganji area of Quetta targeted a bus carrying Shia pilgrims from Taftan to the provincial capital on Thursday, Express News reported. 14 people were Martyred and 30 were injured as a result of the blast.

Eyewitnesses said that the bus was carrying pilgrims from Taftan and it was targeted when it was passing near a fruit market in the Hazarganji area. Around 15-20kg explosives were used in the blast. A woman and a policeman are also among the dead.

Some eyewitnesses have also claimed that the blast was a suicide attack, officials have not confirmed this as yet.

Casualties could rise because of serious condition of the injured victims. The victims are reported to be mostly Shia Hazaras .

Initial reports also state that four policemen on the mobile were injured after the blast.

There is no confirmation on the nature of the blast as yet.

It has also been reported that the bus was destroyed as a result of the blast.

The injured were shifted to Civil hospital and Bolan Medical Complex.

Almost all the Shia Organisations and Leaders have condemned the attack , while the Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri ,General Sec of Majlis e Wahdat e Muslimeen , have announced a three day Official Mourning in respect for the martyred and the Injured Victims , While the Hazara Democratic Party have announced a Shutter down Strike on Friday , to be observed in Quetta and adjacent areas. The Tehrik e Jafria Pakistan have also condemned the attack and have asked the Government to take a swift action against the detoriating Law & Order Situation of Balochistan , and especially the Shia Target Killing , which have escalated in the recent Past , as there is no Law and Order in whole of the Balochistan Province , as it looks that the Government have lost its writ , and the terrorist have the freedom to invoke all kinds of terrorist acts in the Province.

The UN “Group of States” words sound an empty echo of King Hamad’s year old BICI Charade. Member States “votes” and “statements” are absent any “real substance” or “willingness” to effect Economic or other Concrete Punitive Action against the Bahrain Regime’s unbridled brutality. IT IS TIME TO STAND UP TO THE BLOODY BULLIES OF THE BAHRAIN REGIME. Most have given up and grown weary of the with hollow words and meaningless votes from within the UN halls and walls by “feel good liberals” who gather in their affinity circles. Their empty words have become a partnership with the regime atrocities. Feel good politics has become a hallmark of a UN that “pats itself on the back” as vicar of Human Rights for the world, while it tolerates the indecent conduct of its Western benefactors who perpetuate a worldwide regime of hostility toward and destruction of progress on Human Rights everywhere. Phlipn.

US shuns Bahrain condemnation at UN
28 June, 2012 – Al Akhbar

The United States and the United Kingdom on Thursday declined to sign a UN document condemning the ongoing human rights abuses in Bahrain.

The UN Human Rights Council document, which was signed by major European countries including Germany and France, calls on the Gulf state to do more to protect civil liberties in the country.

“We express our concern over the human rights situation in Bahrain, both the violations that took place in February and March 2011 as well as the related ongoing ones,” the document said.

“We are particularly concerned about the consequences faced by those who protested for democratic change in a peaceful manner,” it adds.

Bahraini forces, backed by Saudi troops, crushed a pro-democracy uprising in early 2011, but protests have reemerged in recent months despite repression.

The US has remained quiet on the human rights situation in the country, which is the host of its Fifth Fleet, while condemning government crackdowns in Syria and elsewhere.

Bahraini activists have accused global bodies such as the Human Rights Council of being pressured into silence on the issue.

Maryam Al-Khawaja, acting head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, welcomed the ruling.

“This is the first step in showing that the Human Rights Council will not allow the implementation of double standards, although they have allowed it this long,” she said.

However she condemned the decision by the US and Britain to not sign the treaty as evidence of “double standards” on human rights.

“The thing that disappoints us most is the fact that the United Kingdom and the United States decided not to sign, which to us says a lot more about how they are insisting on implementing double standards when it comes to supporting or standing against human rights violations in different countries.” …more

US-backed Bahrain regime upholds jail sentences for doctors and nurses
By Will Morrow – 28 June, 2012 – WSWS

The US-backed Bahraini dictatorship of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa on June 14 upheld jail sentences of up to five years for medics rounded up during fierce repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Twenty doctors and nurses from the Salmaniya Medical Complex in the capital, Manama, were sentenced to between five and 15 years in prison by a military court in September 2011. The attorney general allowed a civilian retrial amid mass outrage at the convictions.

Throughout the proceedings the defendants were prevented from speaking, as they insisted they had been tortured into giving signed confessions. The medics have been on bail since late last year, unable to return to work.

In the latest ruling, orthopaedic surgeon Ali Alekri was sentenced to five years jail, down from fifteen, and Ibrahim al-Damstani, the Bahraini Nursing Society secretary general, will face three years, according to AFP. Seven others have been handed sentences of one year or less, and the remaining nine who appealed their convictions were acquitted. Two did not appeal their sentences and are reported to have fled the country.

The medics’ arrest in March 2011 was part of a campaign of repression and intimidation by security forces. A protest encampment in Manama’s Pearl Roundabout, calling for the downfall of the regime, was crushed by tanks and troops brought from the neighbouring despotic gulf states Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Security forces repeatedly raided hospitals looking for injured patients to arrest. The sole “crime” of the medics was treating civilians who were beaten, shot and gassed during this repression. At least sixty protesters have been killed by security forces since February last year, though the real figure is likely far higher.

In a statement following the recent ruling, the government attempted to claim the convictions were not for treating protesters. Making clear the political character of the charges, it asserted that the doctors and nurses were guilty of “politicising their profession, breaching medical ethics and… their call and involvement in the overthrow of the monarchy.” The government has not attempted to explain how it obtained signed confessions of guilt from those who have now been acquitted entirely.

Spent CS Gas Canisters used to turn homes into “gas chambers”, killing Elderly and Infants

Khaza’ie: Iran’s policy, refraining from interference in countries’ internal affairs
28 June, 2012 – Islamic Invitation Turkey

Iran’s Permanent Ambassador to UN here Wednesday emphasized Islamic Republic of Iran’s basic policy of refraining from interference in other countries’ internal affairs, adding, Tehran has no military, or financial interference abroad.

According to IRNA, Khaza’ie who was speaking at a press conference at the end of a UN Security Council meeting allocated to the challenges ahead for Afghanistan answered the questions posed by the world media reporters.

In response to a question, he rejected any type of military intervention of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Syria, arguing, “We have always supported the EU Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s six article plan as the best solution for the Syrian crisis, and favored putting an end to the cruelties and aggressions there.”

Khaza’ie emphasized, “For instance, Bahrain is our neighbor, but Tehran never interferes in that country’s internal affairs, but it is clear for everyone which country’s military forces are today stationed in Bahrain.”

Elsewhere in the press conference he criticized those who provide money and weapons for the opponents of the Syrian government, reiterating, “Forwarding weapons and money leads of boosting aggressions in that country and amid so much aggressive moves it is impossible to push forth the reforms in that country.”

Khaza’ie said that the countries opposed to Damascus government are sending arms and money into Syria, which is something they should seriously avoid, arguing, “If this sick process would be halted we can then hope for calm pursuit of the reforms trend.”

The permanent representative of Iran at the UN reiterated, “Tehran believes entire countries’ support for full implementation of Kofi Annan’s six point plan is the best path for exit from the ongoing crisis in Syria.”

In response to another question on Moscow negotiations, he reiterated, “Iran’s stands in those negotiations was quite transparent, serious, and along with offering clear solutions aimed at elimination of misconceptions.”

Khaza’ie promised to answer the media representatives’ questions on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program at another press conference in near future. …source

Donahoe: U.S. Continues to Engage with Bahrain on Human Rights Issues

28 June, 2012 – Statement by Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, U.S. Representative to the Human Rights Council

The United States continues to engage in candid bilateral discussions with the Government of Bahrain and a cross-section of Bahrainis, and these discussions include human rights. We believe that this process is the most productive way for us to engage on human rights issues, and so we did not join the recent Item 4 joint statement in the Human Rights Council (HRC).

Bahrain has hosted a delegation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, plans to host an HRC mandate holder, and has continued to engage with the High Commissioner’s office. They also established the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which produced a comprehensive report on the domestic unrest in Bahrain, along with recommendations that the Government of Bahrain has committed to implement. As part of our bilateral engagement, we continue to encourage Bahrain’s cooperation with the High Commissioner’s office and with the HRC. Most recently, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner visited Bahrain for the fifth time in the last year and a half in support of this dialogue, and we remain committed to this process with Bahrain.

As we noted in our intervention during Bahrain’s session in the Universal Periodic Review on May 21, the Government of Bahrain has taken some important first steps in laying the foundation for dialogue and for reconciliation in Bahrain, but more remains to be done on the full range of BICI recommendations. That includes prosecuting those responsible for the violations identified in the BICI report, dropping charges against all persons accused of offenses involving nonviolent political expression including freedom of assembly, and ensuring fair and expeditious trials in appeals cases. It also means continuing work to professionalize and diversify Bahrain’s security forces to reflect the communities in which they serve, and to work to implement the recommendations of the BICI in an inclusive way.

We continue to call on all parties in Bahrain to help each other move toward a comprehensive political dialogue that includes the diverse views of Bahraini society in a genuine negotiation. And we continue to stand ready to support Bahrain in this process. …source

The Truth Behind Saudi Arabia’s Fear of a Nuclear Iran
By Hassan Ahmadian – Center for Strategic Research, Tehran – 27 June, 2012

In a recent interview with the Israeli daily, Haaretz, Dennis Ross, a senior advisor to the United States President Barack Obama in Middle East affairs, said that in a visit to Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, in early 2009, he had been told by the Saudi King Abdullah that if Iran becomes a nuclear state, Saudi Arabia will rapidly develop its own nuclear bomb. More reports had been also published as earlier as February 2007, following King Abdullah’s meeting with the then Russian President Vladimir Putin which brought similar quotes from the Saudi king. Although those reports were never officially confirmed, Ross’ remarks prove beyond any doubt that such allegations which are made by Saudi Arabia from time to time should be taken quite seriously. However, a logical question which may preoccupy a Middle East researcher’s mind here is: why Saudi Arabia is not as afraid of Israel’s nuclear arsenal as it is of a nuclear Iran? It is quite clear that Israel developed nuclear weapons when it was considered the archenemy of Arab countries in the Middle East. Three years later, in 1967, Israeli forces occupied vast pieces of land which belonged to their neighboring Arab countries, including two Saudi islands of Sanafir and Tiran. However, Saudi Arabia has never made any effort or even posed any threat about developing nuclear weapons and has never attempted to create nuclear balance with Israel. So, why Saudi Arabia is so fearful of a nuclear Iran? Can King Abdullah’s threat be taken as a serious omen of a looming nuclear race in the Middle East?

Saudi Arabia apparently looks upon Iran from the standpoint of regional rivalries and believes that nuclearization of Iran will be a dangerous turn of events for its regional calculations and relations. “Tension in return for pressure” is perhaps a good interpretation for Saudi Arabia’s anti-Iran moves and policies. In other words, whenever Saudi Arabia comes under mounting domestic, regional and/or international pressures, it tries to escalate tension with the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to distract attention from those pressures. In this way, Riyadh also tries to come up with a framework within which it would be able to cooperate with the source of pressure (both internal and external) by claiming that it is facing an alleged foreign risk (from Iran). Another point is the fact that conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran can boost a sense of national identity in Saudi Arabia. This issue will be discussed in more detail below. …more

Convicted Bahrain doctor starts hunger strike
28 June, 2012 – By REEM KHALIFA – Associated Press

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) – A doctor sentenced on charges of aiding anti-government protests in Bahrain went on a hunger strike Thursday.

Saeed al-Samaheeji was among nine medical professionals sentenced last week to prison terms ranging from one month to five years, a decision that has been condemned by international rights groups and the U.S.

Nine others were freed, and 15-year sentences were upheld against two doctors who fled Bahrain.

The 58-year-old Samaheeji remains free while he considers appealing his one-year sentence. He said Thursday that he went on a hunger strike to protest “brutal and fabricated charges” and draw international attention to the plight of all the doctors, hoping their sentences would eventually being thrown out.

Authorities say the doctors sided with protesters last year and tried to topple the country’s ruling system. The doctors said they were only doing their jobs during the protests and subsequent bloody crackdown.

“We are doctors, not criminals, and we were trying to save lives, and these sentences are political convictions. … We are innocent,” al-Samaheeji told reporters.

The cases against the doctors and nurses were among the most sensitive for Bahrain’s leadership as it struggles with near daily clashes and protests by the kingdom’s majority Shiites. The state-run Salmaniya Medical Complex was thrust into the forefront of the unrest after security forces stormed a protest encampment in the early weeks of the uprising.

Initially, 20 medical personnel were sentenced to prison terms of between five and 15 years by a now disbanded security tribunal, set up by the Sunni monarchy as part of crackdowns against Shiite-led protests that began in February 2011. A retrial in civilian court was ordered earlier this year following intense pressure from international rights and medical groups.

Even the most recent court ruling drew complaints from the Americans, who count Bahrain as a close ally since it hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Michael Posner, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, told reporters last week that Washington was “disappointed” by the ruling. He appealed for reconciliation talks in Bahrain but acknowledged that the nation remains deeply divided.

Bahrain’s Shiites comprise about 70 percent of the island’s more than half-million citizens. They claim they face systematic discrimination and are barred from high-level political and security posts. The government has offered some concessions, such as boosting the powers of the elected parliament, but Shiite leaders demand the monarchy also give up its tight grip on all key policies and political appointments. …more

Why are Bahraini authorities so afraid of an 11-year-old?
28 June, 2012 – Eslkevin’s Blog

Dear Kevin,

One minute, 11-year-old Ali Hassan was playing outside with his friends, like any other kid his age anywhere in the world.

The next minute, Ali was under arrest.

This actually happened: An 11-year-old child is on trialfor “illegal gathering” and “disturbing security” in Bahrain.

On July 5, he’ll be sentenced for his “crimes” – and could be imprisoned.

We only have a week left to make an impact on Ali’s case, so we have to be loud. Call on the Bahraini authorities to drop the charges against 11-year-old Ali Hassan. Then be sure to share this action with your friends.

On the day of his arrest, Ali was held for hours and interrogated. Tired, hungry, and scared, Ali finally “confessed.” He was detained for 23 days without access to a lawyer.

Ali’s case is part of a wider crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly in Bahrain. Since mass protests began in the country in February 2011, Bahrain’s security forces have responded brutally with disproportionate violence. And there’s been little accountability for the ongoing human rights violations committed by the Bahraini government, including acts of torture, unjust imprisonment, and even killings.

Things have to change.

The Bahraini government’s crackdown on nonviolent critics is ugly enough. Now with Ali’s arrest and trial, the government’s behavior has become even more shocking.

Ali and his friends found themselves on the wrong side of the law when their playtime coincided with protests in the area. Bahraini police officers stopped them, allegedlythreatening to shoot the children if they didn’t do as they were told, and accusing them of purposely blocking the street with trash bins.

The other children got away. Ali was not so lucky. And now he could face jail for being a child in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Playtime should never lead to prison time. Demand that Bahrain respect the right to free speech and assembly, protect the rights of children, and drop the ludicrous charges against 11-year-old Ali Hassan immediately.

For justice,

Sanjeev Bery
Advocacy Director, Middle East & North Africa
Amnesty International USA

…source

Washington’s postures have been getting more stubborn, as Iran readies for even worse sanctions

US Rejected Chance for Incremental Progress in Iran Talks
by John Glaser – 27 June, 2012 – AntiWar.com

As enthusiasm about the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 begins to peter out, sources close to the talks have revealed that Washington hardened its position during the last round in Moscow, foregoing concrete progress in favor of an all-or-nothing posture.

In Moscow, the Iranians made a proposal that included agreeing to halt uranium enrichment to 20 percent U-23, the isotope that gives uranium its explosive power, and to a plan to “operationalize” the Supreme Leader’s fatwa against nuclear weapons. This would be in exchange for easing economic sanctions, Iranian inclusion in talks on key regional issues like Syria and Bahrain, and international recognition for Iran’s right to have a peaceful nuclear program.

According to officials speaking with Al Monitor, Washington was initially considering incremental steps toward settlement. Any individual concession the Iranians agreed to would be met with reciprocal concessions and benefits.

In the third round of talks in Moscow, however, that changed. Now the West was demanding that Iran meet all three conditions in their proposal: stop 20% enrichment, ship out a stockpile of more than 100 kilograms of 20%-enriched uranium and close the Fordo site, a fortified enrichment facility built into a mountain.

The US refusal to make incremental progress in these talks with Iran indicates a lack of interest in true settlement.

In principle, the talks and the Western aggression against Iran are illegitimate. There is a consensus in the US intelligence community that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons and has demonstrated no intention to do so.

Still, the sanctions and then negotiations were imposed on Iran. But the so-called diplomacy with Iran has been “predicated on intimidation, illegal threats of military action, unilateral ‘crippling’ sanctions, sabotage, and extrajudicial killings of Iran’s brightest minds,” writes Reza Nasri at PBS Frontline’s Tehran Bureau. These postures have spoiled the chance to resolve this issue promptly and respectfully.

After the failed talks in 2009 and 2010, wherein Obama ended up rejecting the very deal he demanded the Iranians accept, as Harvard professor Stephen Walt has written, the Iranian leadership “has good grounds for viewing Obama as inherently untrustworthy.” Former CIA analyst Paul Pillar has concurred, arguing that Iran has “ample reason” to believe, “ultimately the main Western interest is in regime change.” …more

Bahrain witnesses: Activist hurt by gas canister
By REEM KHALIFA – Associated Press – 28 June, 2012

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahraini police injured a prominent human rights activist by shooting her in the leg with a tear gas canister, witnesses said Thursday.

Yousef al-Muhafedha, a member of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said he saw police use a gun to fire the canister at Zainab al-Khawaja at close range after anti-government protesters gathered in the village of Buri southwest of the capital Manama a day earlier.

Police appeared to recognize al-Khawaja, he added.

The injury did not appear life-threatening. Associated Press photos taken shortly after the shooting showed her limping with blood trickling down her right leg.

Al-Khawaja is the daughter of jailed activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, whose hunger strike of more than 100 days brought renewed international attention to the protest movement in Bahrain. She couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The government Information Affairs Authority said police had not received al-Khawaja’s claim of injury, but that all such cases are taken seriously.

“If citizens have been harmed due to misconduct or negligence, they are requested to immediately file a complaint so that it can be investigated as soon as possible,” the authority said in an emailed response to questions.

It added that “precaution should always be exercised” by Bahrainis taking part in unauthorized demonstrations.

Separately, Bahraini police said they were searching for three suspects after they discovered what were described as large amounts of highly explosive bomb-making materials during a raid two weeks ago. …more

Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab vows to continue anti-regime protest
Shia Post – 27 June, 2012

Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has vowed to continue his protest against the regime until the goals of the revolution are achieved.

Shortly after being released from jail, Rajab told his supporters on Wednesday that he is determined to continue his campaign against Manama brutalities.

Rajab was arrested on June 6 on charges linked to comments he made on social networks deemed insulting to Bahrain’s ruling family. It is the second time in two months that he has been arrested and released.

Rajab’s lawyer has said that the next hearing in his client’s case was set for July 9.

Meanwhile, the Manama regime has announced USD 2.6 million in compensation for 17 people killed during last year’s brutal crackdown on demonstrations.

It was the first time the Bahraini authorities pay compensation for those who were killed when Saudi-backed security forces crushed the kingdom’s revolution, killing scores of people. According to an independent inquiry, at least 35 Bahrainis have lost their lives in the crackdown.

Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, demanding political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.

Scores of people have also been killed and many others have been injured in the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain. …source

Bahrain says seizes explosives, fines protest chief
28 June, 2012 – Reuters

DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain has seized large quantities of materials used to make explosives, the Gulf Arab state’s public security chief said, as clashes between police and protesters persist more than a year after the start of a pro-democracy uprising.

“The explosives were designed to cause severe injury, a high death toll, serious destruction to property and fear in the minds of the public,” Tariq al-Hassan said in comments published by the government Information Affairs Authority.

image of previous large weapons cache seized from Bahraini “terrorists”

He said more than five tonnes of materials had been seized at several sites described as “terrorist dens” by the state news agency late on Wednesday. Newspapers published pictures of an array of chemicals, wires, plastic pipes and three wanted men.

“This is significant as it indicates a new level of terrorist activity in Bahrain,” Hassan said.

Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, has been in turmoil since pro-democracy protests by majority Shi’ite Muslims began in February 2011 after popular revolts overthrew long-serving heads of state in Egypt and Tunisia.

The Manama government, dominated for generations by the Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa family, accuses the opposition of having a Shi’ite sectarian agenda and links to regional Shi’ite giant Iran. The opposition denies this, saying such allegations amount to a pretext for avoiding democratic reforms.

After a pause following a military crackdown in March 2011 aided by Saudi troops, violence has resurged with some attacks on police using homemade explosives. Protesters have thrown petrol bombs and iron bars at police in response to what they say is stepped up use of birdshot by security forces.

Thirty-five people died during the uprising and a period of martial law last year, but the opposition says more have died in violence since. A protester was found dead on a rooftop in April, his body riddled with birdshot, a night after he was involved in fighting with police.

There have been some talks between the government and the leading Shi’ite opposition party Wefaq this year but no solution to the conflict has emerged.

RAJAB FREED, FINED

On Wednesday, a judge released protest leader Nabeel Rajab after three weeks in detention over a Twitter post that criticised the prime minister, seen as a leading government hawk who has occupied the post for 41 years.

Rajab’s tweet said financial incentives had motivated residents of a district of the island to come onto the streets in support of the premier, according to his lawyer Mohammed Al-Jishi, who said a court would hear the case next month.

Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was fined 300 Bahraini dinars ($800) on Thursday for another tweet that suggested the Interior Ministry was responsible for weapons used by Sunni vigilantes to attack Shi’ites.

But the court lifted a travel ban on Rajab, who still faces three additional charges of organising illegal protests.

He was also held in May for three weeks pending investigations into charges of illegal gathering and insulting the Interior Ministry. Rajab declared that the cases were meant to stop him organising unlicensed protests in the capital.

“Normally in such cases you get fined, but I’ve been in jail for 45 days without any verdict in these cases yet,” he said on Wednesday after his release. …source

After Bahraini security forces seized materials and tools used in the manufacture of explosive devices, a search operation is underway for three suspects believed to be involved in plotting attacks in the Gulf Island

Bahrain searching three ‘terror’ suspects: reports
AFP – 28 June, 2012

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Bahraini security forces are searching for three suspects believed to be planning “terror” attacks in the kingdom and harbouring materials used to make explosives, media reports said on Thursday.

Bahraini security forces had “identified three suspects believed to be involved in these terror activities… for whom there is a search operation underway,” public security chief Tareq Hasan told reporters in Manama late Wednesday, according to the state news agency BNA.

Hasan said recent raids uncovered “terrorist hideouts … which resulted in the seizure of materials and tools used in the manufacture of explosive devices.”

He said the suspects involved managed to “flee” after the hideouts were raided.

Last week, Bahraini police announced they had arrested five of a group of 20 people wanted over “terror attacks” which included bombings and harming civilians and security personnel.

On May 5, the interior ministry said four policemen were wounded in a “terror blast” in a Shiite village. A similar explosion in another Shiite-populated village left four policemen wounded in April.

In a separate incident, a Bahraini court lifted a travel ban on prominent Shiite rights activist Nabil Rajab, a day after he was released from prison, a court official told AFP on Thursday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Rajab was also ordered to pay a $800 fine for posting comments deemed insulting to Bahraini security forces on his Twitter account.

Rajab was released Wednesday after a three week detention for his tweets.

He remains on trial for five separate charges, including two related to comments on the microblogging site and three for anti-regime protest actions.

The tiny Gulf kingdom’s Shiite majority claim marginalisation by the Sunni regime, and have for months been calling for political and social reforms. …more

The 2012 Egyptian Presidential Election: New US ‘Democratic’ Model for the Arab World?
By Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D., 26 June, 2012

The announcement of the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi, by Egypt’s Elections Commission on Sunday, June 24, 2012, arguably completes the broad outline of what will become known as the boilerplate for US-constructed Arab democracy in the years ahead. With a narrow three percentage point lead, opposition candidate Morsi ostensibly won the presidential runoff held on June 16th and 17th with 51.7% of the electorate compared to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) candidate, former General Ahmed Shafik, who is said to have garnered 48.3% of the vote. With the appearance of a nearly evenly balanced electorate, political stability is hoped for by Egyptians who want to move beyond the contentious and acrimonious contestations for power since the ousting of Mubarak in 2011.

Beset by client regimes led by aging autocrats held in contempt by their domestic populations, continued US hegemony in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region necessitated political restructuring and a new generation of leaders if the US wished to hang on to its status as overlord in the region.

Massive unemployment, extensive disparities of wealth, rampant corruption, and a severe sense of citizen disempowerment fueled the rebellions which upended the Arab world starting with the spark ignited on December 17, 2010 when produce street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia to protest police harassment and demands for payoffs to allow him to continue to sell his vegetables and fruit for meager wages. The impact of Bouazizi’s act of self-immolation spread like a tsunami from Tunisia to Egypt, then on into Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Mauritania, Libya, Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world, ousting not only longtime autocratic leader and President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, but as well Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt, in February 2011, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, and, eventually, Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of Yemen, in February 2012. Ben Ali had been in power in Tunisia for 23 years, while Mubarak had been at the helm in Egypt for 30 years, and Gaddafi had ruled Libya for 41 years, while Saleh had ruled Yemen for 33 years. Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen have all been longtime US clients in the region with Gaddafi only aligning himself with the US within the last few years of his reign when, in 2006, the US restored full diplomatic relations with Libya and removed the country from its list of “state sponsors of terrorism” after 27 years.
[Read more →]

It’s a strange ritual indeed that is performed daily by the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Every day in the Oval Office, Barack Obama ticks off the list of people to be assassinated: men, women, adolescents, children, “reveals” the New York Times. The height of cynicism! In a country where the military-industrial lobby is all-powerful and where appeasement is interpreted as a sign of weakness, it sometimes pays off when starting an electoral campaign to make it be known that one is a “killer”.

Assassin drones for the “Kill List”
by Manlio Dinucci – Voltaire Network – 27 June, 2012

The United States must defend themselves from those who attack them, says Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, rejecting the protests against the increase in U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan.

According to Panetta, Pakistanis must understand that the Predators are also there for their own good: They fly overhead, remote-controlled from the U.S. at a distance of more than 10,000 kilometers, to strike with their Hellfire missiles dangerous terrorists nestled inside Pakistan.

Opposite conclusion by Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, after a visit to Pakistan: The drone attacks, which occur on average every four days, “cause indiscriminate killings and injuries of civilians, which violate human rights.” Moreover, they also raise serious issues of international law, in that they are conducted “outside of any control mechanism, civil or military.” Pillay has therefore called for the opening of a formal investigation. A charge that was curtly rejected by President Obama, who affirmed that drone attacks – which are also carried out in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and other countries – “had not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.” They are in fact “under very tight control.” ….more

Letter to President Obama regarding the June 22 attack on protesters in Bahrain
25 June, 2012 – Mary Fletcher Jones

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for your previous comments on human rights and your support for the people of Bahrain.

I am writing to you to respectfully request that you or one of your staff issue a White House statement condemning the unprovoked June 22, 2012 attack on protesters by Bahrain riot police, which was widely reported by the news media, including The Washington Post.

On this day, a small group of men faced riot police, stating that they came in peace and bearing roses. They were fired on with deadly force, even as they fled. They were shot in the back. Several members of Al Wefaq were injured, and one man has sustained serious brain injury and is in critical condition.

They committed no crime; the police say they were trying to “prevent traffic congestion.”

I understand the strategic alliance between the U.S. and Bahrain, and the challenges that presents, but as the leader of a country that respects human rights, I know you will not let this event pass without comment.

President Obama, you can see the video that portrays the attack on YouTube ” target=”_blank”>HERE

I know our State Dept. is trying to improve the situation in Bahrain — but this is beyond the pale, even given past events in that country.

I know what you say holds great weight with the Kingdom — please do what you can to help.

Sincerely,

Mary Fletcher Jones